Standalone energy storage cost vs benefit calculation in Ghana

How much does energy cost in Ghana?

This system has a Cost of Energy (COE) of 0.399 $/kWh and an NPC of $296,552. Although this COE is approximately three times the current energy cost in Ghana, sensitivity analysis shows that changing certain parameters such as fuel costs, and capital subsidies can reduce COE.

How to calculate the payback period of electricity in Ghana?

Considering the cost per kWh of grid electricity in Ghana, which is 0.118 $/kW (March 2021), and the estimated demand of 81,782 kWh, the payback period can be determined using Equation 10 . p a y b a c k p e r i o d = c o s t o f o p t i m u m s y s t e m t a r i f f × E n e r g y g e n e r a t e d k W h (10)

How much power does Ghana have?

The total installed capacity of Ghana at the end of 2020 was 5,288 MW, including embedded generation. This is made up of 32.9% hydropower and 66.4% thermal generation. Renewable energy mainly from grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) accounts for the remaining 0.7% (Energy Commission Ghana, 2021 ).

How much solar irradiance is available in Ghana?

Available annual average solar irradiance imported from NASA and applied to the benchmark model (5.54 kWh/m 2 /d) was likely determined from satellites, not ground measurements. A value of 5.42 kWh/m 2 /d is provided by the Energy Commission of Ghana as the anticipated annual average solar irradiance available in northern Ghana.

How many solar installations are there in Ghana?

At the end of 2020, the country has four utility-scale grid-connected PV installations with a combined capacity of 49 MW (Asuamah et al., 2021 ), with an extra 10 MW Bui solar project undergoing a test run. Two of these installations are located in northern Ghana with a combined capacity of 9 MW (Energy Commission Ghana, 2021 ).

How much CoE does a battery storage system cost?

The next attractive configurations that can be implemented are the diesel with battery storage (Case II) and PV and battery storage systems (Case III), which have NPC of $388,358 COE of 0.523 $/kWh and NPC of 580,170 COE of 0.782 $/kWh, respectively.